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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

If I'm not mistaken it's less than two weeks until the Paris Competition for this year will take place. And no thread about it on PW? Well, I searched and could not find one.

Like last year, I'm not participating. But nevertheless I would be very interested to hear some "insider" stories about it from participants before and during the competition.

So I wonder, like in previous years, will there be some participation from PW members? What are you guys playing?! Everyone well prepared?? To all those who are now in their final preparation stage: best of luck, and most importantly: Have fun!

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 19969
Loc: New York

I'm not going either, and I wouldn't be surprised if none of our active members are since it doesn't seem like anybody has said anything. I'll also be interested to hear news about it from anyone who can share.

I'm not going either, and I wouldn't be surprised if none of our active members are since it doesn't seem like anybody has said anything. I'll also be interested to hear news about it from anyone who can share.

Wow, so if none of the participants would hang out in piano forum, they must all be practising diligently.

Thanks, musica! I hope Gorden (hopefully joined by some other participants) will share some of his experiences with us like in the previous year (or was it already the year before that? I lost track...)

In any case, my bet is he'll be a likely candidate for the finals...if not more.

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 19969
Loc: New York

Originally Posted By: ClsscLib

For those of us who are relative newcomers, could someone please provide some information about this competition?

More generally, I'm not sure what an "amateur" piano competition is and what types of players enter one.

I'm guessing that these are very, very skilled players, but where and how is the line between "amateur" and "unrecognized professional" drawn?....

Hey folks, why shouldn't we give him more of an answer right here....

Your guess about the level of the players is right, although there's a fair range within any given event and from one event to another. To be admitted to some of them, like the Cliburn, you have to be real good. How good is that? Let's say, good enough that it wouldn't be insane to think of becoming a professional. I mean, it would be insane for most of us to actually do it but....you get the idea. For some of the competitions, it's OK to give it a try if you're at least what I'd call upper-level-intermediate.

Some of the people in these events are really at a professional or near-professional level, and some of them have advanced degrees in piano and in some cases have actually been professionals in the past, which of course raises legitimate questions about whether they're really amateurs. The people who win are usually from that highest group.

For anyone wondering if they're ready to enter one of these events, more important than how far you are above "upper intermediate" is that your pieces should be extremely well-prepared and that you be very comfortable with them. The repertoire requirements are very flexible. Basically you can play whatever you want.

For those of us who are relative newcomers, could someone please provide some information about this competition?

More generally, I'm not sure what an "amateur" piano competition is and what types of players enter one.

I'm guessing that these are very, very skilled players, but where and how is the line between "amateur" and "unrecognized professional" drawn?....

Hey folks, why shouldn't we give him more of an answer right here....

Your guess about the level of the players is right, although there's a fair range within any given event and from one event to another. To be admitted to some of them, like the Cliburn, you have to be real good. How good is that? Let's say, good enough that it wouldn't be insane to think of becoming a professional. I mean, it would be insane for most of us to actually do it but....you get the idea. For some of the competitions, it's OK to give it a try if you're at least what I'd call upper-level-intermediate. Some of the people in these events are really at a professional or near-professional level, and some of them have advanced degrees in piano and in some cases have actually been professionals in the past, which of course raises legitimate questions about whether they're really amateurs. The people who win are usually from that highest group.

For anyone wondering if they're ready to enter one of these events, more important than how far you are above "upper intermediate" is that your pieces should be extremely well-prepared and that you be very comfortable with them. The repertoire requirements are very flexible. Basically you can play whatever you want.

Maybe we'll be seeing you at some of the events!

Thanks, Mark -- very informative explanation.

If you indeed see me at one of these competitions, it's likely to be in the audience, but that's okay too. I'd love to watch some of you folks play!

I seriously considered to sign on for the "Pianobridge" competition in St.Petersburg (Russia) this summer. The reason was that I was offered early retirement from my employer, and would have ample time to practice.

This competition has separate classes for participants with or without a diploma, and this was one of the reasons why this competition sounded interesting for me (holding no diploma).

I managed, however, to find a new full time job, and therefore I decided to skip the competition. I would have invested some 500 hours preparing and this is out of question now. Maybe 5 - 10 years.

For the final on Sunday 24th it seems there's only one ticket price of €25; that's obviously planning for a very high standard or a very long concert...Anyway if anyone going is wondering what to do on the Saturday evening before, I've got a new Oboe Sonata that'll be premiered in a recital at Cité des Arts, a central venue (short walk from Notre Dame).

I hear from well-informed sources that Gorden has advanced! Way to go!!!

But apparently the selection was for "quarter finals", which is a Paris specialty: an intermediate round for candidates that the jury liked but wants to hear again before selecting some of them for the semifinals. Candidates can also be selected directly from first round to semifinals.

Having heard Gorden before, I would have expected him to move directly to semifinals. So it seems to me there must be lots of very good amateur pianists in Paris this year??

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 19969
Loc: New York

Yes -- as you know, the "quarter-finals" is sort of a purgatory.

When the results of the 1st round are announced, they say the quarter-finalists first, before the ones who are going directly to the semi-finals. So, it's odd because you don't really want to hear your name announced, even if not being in the 1/4-finals means you won't be advancing at all. This result could mean what you said, or that Gorden had an off-day, or just that his style and approach weren't to the liking of one or more of the judges. But it's worth remembering that people from the quarter-finals have often wound up advancing to the finals and sometimes even won. I was there one time when the eventual winner almost didn't even make the quarter-finals. He had made what I thought was for him a poor repertoire choice for the 1st round (last mvt of Prokofiev 7th), played it aggressively and without much regard to the small room (and also got sort of lost for a while), and wasn't even on the initial list of people who advanced at all, but the judges thought for a few seconds more and figured what the heck. He wound up winning -- probably because they sort of wouldn't let him play the Prokofiev sonata in the finals even though he really really wanted to.

Gorden's not being put directly in the semi-finals could also be partly because of some issues of his first time in that event (when he did make the finals), things that weren't directly about how he played. He disagreed that it was any issue for anything, but I thought it probably was, and it might still be. That competition has its quirks. The issue (as I saw it) was mainly about that thing of deciding the repertoire for the finals. If he advances to the finals, look for them to try to be very strong to him about what he 'should' play, and he may well not like it. I sure wouldn't have in my 'younger days.'

pianoloverus
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Registered: 05/29/01
Posts: 19841
Loc: New York City

It makes much more sense I think for any competition to lay out the repertoire requirements for each round in advance and then leave the rest to the competitors. It's somewhat arrogant for the judges to decide anything about which pieces a contestant should play for any reason.

I hope he or she will not choose to play "Bach-hyphenated" in the semifinals --something which is allowed instead of "pure" Bach in Paris, which I don't really consider a good thing because the romantic transcriptions require such different skills...